FORT CAMPBELL, KY (CHRISTIAN COUNTY NOW) – At an elementary school at Fort Campbell, home of the 101st Airborne Division, librarians are hard at work scrubbing the shelves. But they aren’t scrubbing for dust. They’re scrubbing for books that contain references to slavery, the civil rights movement and anything else related to diversity, equity and inclusion.

On Feb. 6, DoDEA (the Department of Defense Education Activity) sent to administrators and school employees at 161 schools around the world a letter “to ensure compliance with executive orders and recent DoD guidance.”

The letter, a copy of which was obtained by Clarksville Now, lays out several new directives. Many of them were expected, including that programs designated for girls “may only be accessed by biological females,” and that signage for restrooms and locker rooms must use terms such as “women” and “men” or “girls” and “boys.”

But the document also bans celebration or promotion of “monthly cultural observances.” This includes the immediate cancellation of any celebrations under way. At Fort Campbell Schools, that meant teachers had to remove all bulletin boards that reference Black History Month and Black leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr., Harriet Tubman and Rosa Parks, according to a source speaking to Clarksville Now on condition of anonymity. Fort Campbell Schools are also canceling plans for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. There’s no word yet on Women’s History Month, set for March.

Another directive calls for the removal of all books and materials related to “discriminatory equity ideology” during an “operational compliance review.” Librarians are instructed to ensure any such books are “removed from the student section of the information center and placed in the professional collection.”

‘The librarians are frustrated’

At Fort Campbell, administrators and librarians are interpreting the guidance to apply to anything that deals with diversity, inclusion or equity, and anything that could be perceived to promote one group over another or make one group look bad, the source said. That would include any books that mention slavery, the civil rights movement or the treatment of Native Americans.

The libraries at Fort Campbell schools are closed to students while staff removes books that could fall under the directive. At one elementary school, that has amounted to hundreds of books in several stacks, filling rolling carts. They have a deadline of Feb. 18.

“The librarians are frustrated – they’re not getting any true guidance but are getting specific time frames” for when they have to have it done, the source said.

Ironically, some of those history books on civil rights might reference the deployment of the 101st Airborne to Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957 to protect Black students during the desegregation of a high school, a pivotal moment in civil rights history.

“It’s very disheartening,” the source said. “I don’t know where else it’s going to go.”

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At another DoDEA school in Europe, all references to Disability Awareness Month have been ordered removed, and libraries are removing books that discuss immigration in a positive light, another source said.

‘Administrations change, and we continue’

Clarksville Now has reached out to DoDEA for comment and specifics.

The changes stem from executive orders titled “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government” and “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling” and guidance titled “Identity Months Dead at DOD,” according to a Stars and Stripes report.

DoDEA Director Beth Schiavino-Narvaez spoke about the changes during a visit to Germany on Wednesday, according to Stars and Stripes. “This is just what we do. Administrations change, and we continue,” she said. “And we’ll always stay focused on our core mission of teaching and learning and student achievement and providing the best education possible to our students.”

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